The COVID-19 global pandemic highlighted the need for the geospatial community to be prepared to support the national response to an emerging public health crisis with its geospatial data, technologies and processes in a timely manner. From the early days of the pandemic, researchers have been making use of highly visual geospatial data and applications to record and report the virus’ spread – from local to global levels. These geospatial visualizations clearly communicate the situation, guides decision-making through location-based data and situational awareness dashboards. In addition, the impact of COVID-19 on healthcare and services, hospitals and medical supply chains, and the accompanying economic effects, are categorized using location.
However, the aftermath of COVID-19 will likely have a significant impact worldwide on governments’ budgets for geospatial information management over the next several years. This will make it difficult to afford new data collection projects, develop new platforms or procure new solutions. As a result, government agencies should be looking to maximize the value of the geospatial information the government has already collected or currently collects in its normal course.
One cost-effective method to increase the value of geospatial information that is often overlooked is to strengthen the policy and legal framework for geospatial information management. While not as high-profile as a new enterprise software, the growing importance of policy and legal frameworks is highlighted in the recently published United Nations Integrated Geospatial Information Framework (IGIF). The IGIF provides a basis, a reference and a mechanism for developing, integrating, strengthening and maximizing geospatial information management and related resources in a country. Policy and legal is recognized as one of nine strategic pathways for the IGIF. A robust policy and legal framework is essential for instituting effective, efficient and secure management and exchange of geospatial information – nationally and sub-nationally.
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Strategic Pathway 2 (Policy and Legal) of the IGIF identified four elementswithin a framework that impact geospatial information management. These are:
- Legislation – laws and regulations that provide the legal framework in which geospatial policies must operate. These laws and regulations may be specific to geospatial information or closely related.
- Data Protection, Licensing and Sharing – are used to address complex legal issues with data, including risks and safeguards, sharing and dissemination, and licensing issues that impact the availability, accessibility and application of geospatial information.
- Policies, Norms and Guides – are typically aspirational and relatively easy to develop and adopt. They include proven practices that provide good direction for strengthening geospatial information management.
- Governance and Accountability – the policy and legal boundary within a country or jurisdiction that engenders effective management and use of geospatial information and leads to good governance, effective implementation and accountability.
The impact that policy and legal issues are having on geospatial information management was highlighted in a recent tabletop exercise conducted by the Centre for Spatial Law and Policy in conjunction with Digital Earth Africa, Geoscience Australia, Singapore Land Authority, Group on Earth Observations, Secure World Foundation and the UN Working Group on Legal and Policy Frameworks. The exercise, entitled “Legal Hurdles of Open Data: the Case of Digital Earth Africa” brought together almost 50 technical, operational and legal professionals from across the globe to discuss a hypothetical use case involving food security and other transnational issues in Africa after Covid-19. The discussion focused on the impact issues such as licensing, national security, privacy and liability have on the collection, use (visualization, analysis and aggregation), distribution (sharing) and storage of geospatial information in and among African nations. The exercise highlighted that while the scope and importance of these issues vary depending upon the type of data, the products and services being prepared, and the jurisdiction’s laws, regulations and policies, they are an increasingly important consideration.
IGIF Strategic Pathway 2 (Policy and Legal) outlines in great detail the options, actions and tools needed to develop or enhance a legal and policy framework within a country. While these actions require significant effort, they often can be accomplished without a great deal of additional resources. Such actions include:
- Creating an independent geospatial policy and legal review group, committee or council consisting of legal practitioners and professionals who understand geospatial information-related policy and legal matters;
- Reviewing and assessing the existing policy and legal framework, including an inventory of polices, laws and regulations (or equivalent);
- Analyzing gaps and opportunities (including materials and documents in conducting the analysis, such as a use case, tabletop exercise, analysis matrix, etc.);
- Consideration of various policy and legal instruments options available to address gaps and opportunities;
- Assessing and clarifying intellectual property rights, privacy and data protection, liability concerns and protection of sensitive information, including options available to address these aspects of geospatial information;
- Reviewing and considering evolving personal, technological, societal, and economic progress, developments and norms so that existing policy and legal framework keep pace with the times;
- Reviewing and assessing impacts of any policies or legislation designed and developed (including alignment with national strategic priorities, prevailing policies and legislations – such as e-Government, open data, innovation or economic transformation); and
- Reviewing and assessing the cohesiveness and coherence in policies and legislations to support sound and enabling policy and legal environment for integrated geospatial information management.
Geospatial information will continue to be of vital importance to governments post COVID-19. However, budget cuts may make it a challenge to implement large new programs. As referenced in the IGIF, maximizing a nation’s legal and policy framework for geospatial management is a cost-effective means for geospatial information to flourish and to achieve its highest and widest utility in service of people, planet, prosperity, peace and partnership.
Also Read: COVID-19: Finding the middle ground in safety vs data privacy debate
